Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Montes

"I love studying body language, whether it's online or in person," Elizabeth Montes says about returning to the physical classroom after spending her first year in the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program online.

As a result of the switch to online classes at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montes is only now getting accustomed to in-person classes. After seeing only faces on a screen for a year, she is excited to get to know her classmates and instructors in new ways. "Different personalities come out when you're sitting in a room full of people. People tend to be more relaxed and show up more authentically," she says.

Alumni Spotlight: Meagan Rossin, Class of 2018

Meagan Rossin, LMFT, graduated from the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program in 2018. She spoke with the Wright Institute's Dalton Green about her career since graduation, launching her own independent practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how her background in performing arts has helped inform her career in psychology.

Dalton Green (DG): Where has your career taken you since you graduated in 2018?

Rorschach's Psychodiagnostics: The Story of the 1942 English Translation

Philip J. Keddy, PhD, is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program. He teaches one of the five parallel sections of Adult Assessment. The second trimester of this course focuses on the Rorschach inkblot test, using the Rorschach-Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), which was released in 2011. For the past several years Dr. Keddy has been heading a team (Rita Signer, Philip Erdberg, and Arianna Schneider-Stocking) to do a new, annotated, translation of Hermann Rorschach's 1921 book, Psychodiagnostics. This is a 100th-anniversary edition of the book in which Rorschach introduced his inkblot test. It is being published by Hogrefe, the publisher of the original Rorschach test plates, and will be available in the U.S. soon. Click here to read more about the new translation, and for information on purchasing via Hogrefe.

Alicia del Prado, PhD, Named Amongst Most Influential Filipina Women in the World

Congratulations to Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program

Faculty Member Alicia del Prado, PhD, for being named as one of the "Most Influential Filipina Women in the World" by the Foundation for Filipina Women's Network.

The "Most Influential Filipina Women in the World" award (Global FWN100) was launched in 2006, and has awarded 100 women globally since 2013. "​​[The award winners] are magnificent women doing extraordinary work trailblazing for the next generation leaders," said Marily Mondejar, founder and CEO of the Foundation for Filipina Women's Network.

Clinical Psychology Student Suzanne Mungalez co-authors article on Perinatal Care for Black Families

Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program student Suzanne Mungalez co-wrote a research article for Zero to Three titled "EMBRACE Perinatal Care for Black Families: Reclaiming Health, Wellness, and Self-Determination for Black Birthing." Written alongside three authors, Glamarys Acevedo, Markita Mays, and Theresia Oklan, EMBRACE Perinatal Care discusses racialized birthing disparities in the United States.

Clinical Psychology Internship for Underrepresented Students, a New Book from Anatasia Kim, PhD, and Abigail Johal, PsyD

Wright Institute Clinical Faculty Member Anatasia Kim, PhD and Clinical Psychology Program alum Abigail Johal, PsyD, are releasing a new book, Clinical Psychology Internship for Underrepresented Students: An Inclusive Approach to Higher Education. Here's what they have to say about their book, which was released on August 17, 2021:

This text introduces "Taking Flight", a year-long clinical psychology internship program to be implemented for students of color and first-generation college-bound students. The program offers hands-on opportunities for participants to develop skills that will propel them to seek advanced degrees in mental health.

Student Spotlight: Annie Happel

Even before she was pursuing a degree in counseling psychology, Annie Happel was interested in talking to people about their lives. "I often found that while meeting with clients, I was more interested in learning about their personal lives than their projects," she says.

As a first-year daytime student in the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program, Happel is still sorting through what she wants her career in psychology to be. Due to in-person classes being moved online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has yet to attend a class at the Dwight Way campus. Despite attending all classes so far from her apartment, Happel has jumped into her career change headfirst.

Get to know Mary Clarke, PhD - Full-Time Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

Mary Clarke, PhD, joined the Counseling Psychology Program faculty in 2017. She spoke with the Wright Institute's Dalton Green about how she became interested in psychology, her favorite courses to teach, and how the mental health field can improve LBGTQIA representation.

Dalton Green (DG): How did you become interested in psychology as a career?

Student Spotlight: Anahat Singh

Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program student Anahat Singh recently presented at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) conference, winning an award for her poster. Singh's poster, "Survivorship Wellness Group Program: Increasing Gastrointestinal Cancer Survivor Participation and Engagement through Automatic Referrals." was co-authored with Alison Chang, Mikela Barulich, Dianne Shumay, PhD, Margaret Chesney, PhD, and Jamie Cohen, PsyD.

Singh, who is in her fourth year in the program, is writing her dissertation on the experience of depression in survivors of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. "I'm looking to see if psychological flexibility and values-based living are perhaps protective factors against depression," she says. "If so, then how can we use them as preventative modes of therapy, rather than waiting until somebody is already experiencing depression?"

Clinical Services Director Deanna van Ligten Reflects on One Year of the Pandemic

In March of 2020, the Wright Institute Clinic was faced with the decision to close its doors and move its services online. Deanna van Ligten, PsyD, the Wright Institute's Director of Clinical Services, recalls conversations she had early in that month, when so much seemed uncertain. "I remember asking myself, 'do we just have to cancel all of our services this week?'" says van Ligten of the week of March 9, 2020.